Talks on February 25: Pakistan

This September 26, 2009 photo shows Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir at delegation level talks in New York. Pakistan has announced that Foreign Secretary-level talks will be held in New Delhi on Feb. 25.

Pakistan said on Friday that its Foreign Secretary would travel to New Delhi for talks with his Indian counterpart on February 25.

Pakistan is hopeful that the talks will lead to the resumption of the composite dialogue process, stalled since the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. It is expected that t Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir will make this demand when he meets Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao.

A statement from the office of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said Pakistan had decided that it should raise “all the core issues” between the two countries, “particularly the Kashmir and water disputes.”

The statement from the Prime Minister’s office came after a meeting on Friday between Mr. Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who chairs the parliamentary committee on Kashmir.

“The Prime Minister directed the Foreign Secretary, who was also present at the meeting, that his talks with his Indian counterpart should be result-oriented and meaningful,” the statement said.